Summary
Blanca Ojanguren, a 22-year-old Spanish tourist, was fatally attacked by an elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care sanctuary in Thailand while bathing the animal.
She was struck by its tusk, resulting in fatal injuries.
This tragedy highlights the risks of popular recreational activities involving elephants in Thailand.
It follows a recent fatal attack by a wild elephant on a Thai woman and adds to the 39 elephant-related deaths reported in 2024.
Elephants have an image in popular culture as being ‘gentle giants’ - and the companies who can benefit from that image by offering elephant petting, bathing and other experiences have no reason to suggest it’s anything other than perfectly safe.
“Charismatic megafauna” are literally the poster-children for environmental movements because they look cool or cute and can hang in the public zeitgeist for a while. Downside is, yeah, we forget they’re wild animals.